Mr. Plachtej and his representative were in attendance. Members were notified that the applicant had now produced detailed financial accounts. Members were reminded that consideration of the above matter had been deferred at the last meeting to allow the Chairman to write to the Member of Parliament urging that a response be received from the Secretary of State to letters previously sent.

New information in the form of a letter from the Cabinet Office dated 30th March, 2012 was tabled. That letter indicated that the Minister had decided to allow the Applicant’s appeal against the decision of Cardiff Council to refuse an application within the Council’s area. In light of that determination, officers were now recommending that the application from Mr. Plachtej be approved given that the Applicant would likely win any appeal were Members minded to refuse the application. As previously, some concerns were voiced at the low percentage of the total proceeds that were donated to charity and discussion briefly ensued. The Applicant’s representative drew attention to the fact the Applicant had also won his appeal against Neath Port Talbot Council.

Following a vote as to approving the application, it was

RESOLVED - T H A T the application be approved.

Reason for decision

To have regard to the communication from the Cabinet Office.

1096 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC -

RESOLVED - T H A T under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 4 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act, the relevant paragraphs of the Schedule being referred to in brackets after the minute heading.

P. was in attendance to be interviewed to determine whether he was a fit and proper person to hold the above licences. P. had applied for the aforementioned licences in February, 2012. The Applicant’s Criminal Record Disclosure had been received on 2nd March. Having heard the content of that disclosure and carefully considered the details of the report together with P.’s submission at the meeting, it was

RESOLVED -

(1) T H A T P. be considered a fit and proper person to hold Vale of Glamorgan Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licences.

(2) T H A T P. be issued with a warning letter as to his future conduct.

D. was in attendance to be interviewed to determine whether he was a fit and proper person to hold the aforementioned licences. D. was accompanied at the meeting by two friends. D. had applied for the aforementioned licences in September 2010. The Applicant’s Criminal Record Disclosure had been received in December, 2010 and Members were made aware of its content. D. had disputed the content of that disclosure in respect of an offence which had taken place in April 2002 and to a second offence in 2009 relating to the same vehicle. D. stated that he had never visited the area in which the offence took place. The Criminal Records Bureau had subsequently written to D. stating that the Police confirmed that the information in the disclosure certificate was correct. D. had provided a copy of that letter (dated November 2011) to the Licensing Section and the content of the letter was read out. In February 2012 D. had provided the Licensing Section with a letter from the DVLA (dated January 2012) accepting that he was not the owner of the vehicle involved in the above incidents and which indicated that his details had now been removed from that vehicle’s record. The Licensing Section had undertaken further investigations and requested D. to challenge the Police in relation to his alleged involvement in the two incidents referred to above and to provide further details as to his identity. D. responded to questions from both Members and officers at the meeting.

Having carefully considered the details presented at the meeting and D.’s submission, Members felt that further information was required before any decision as to his application could be made given the discrepancies identified. D. was again asked to challenge the Police in relation to his alleged involvement in the incidents referred to above and to provide additional evidence of a personal nature order to verify his identity. D. would be notified in writing by officers within the Licensing Section as to the way forward and was asked to pass on that notification to his advisers.

RESOLVED - T H A T consideration of the application be deferred to allow D. the opportunity to obtain the information necessary to clarify the position in relation to the disputed matter referred to above and to provide additional personal details.

Reason for decision

To establish the facts prior to making a decision.

1099 THANKS –

This being the last meeting of the Committee in the current municipal year, Members and officers were thanked for their contributions. The Chairman wished all well in the forthcoming elections, referring specifically to this being Councillor Bagstaff’s last meeting since she was not standing for re-election.